Hand stamp



Jan. 5, 1960 H. LEEDS HAND STAMP Filed Aug. 29. 1957 United States Patent HAND STAMP Harry Leeds, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor, by mesne assignments, to S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., a corporation of Wisconsin Application August 29,1957, Serial No. 681,011

7 Claims. (Cl. 101-368) This invention relates to a hand stamp or like marking device, and in particular to a combination handle and housing for a printing member of the type containing its own ink supply.

With hand stamps of the foregoing type, a frequent problem arises of preventing soiling of ones hands or clothing while the stamp is in use, or of other articles when the stamp is put aside or placed in a drawer between times of use.

One object of the invention is the provision of an improved hand starnp wherein the foregoing difficulty is obviated.

A further object of the invention is an improved housing and handle for manipulating a stamp and wherein soiling of ones hands or clothing or of a resting place are eliminated.

Still a further object of the invention is a combined handle and housing for a hand stamp wherein in one position the type face of a printing member is accessible for making suitable ink impressions, and wherein in a second position the printing member is completely enclosed in a protective housing.

Another object of the invention is a suitable housing for a printing member of the type containing its own ink supply within the stamp body.

Still a further object of the invention is an improved receptacle for housing a marking device.

These and other objects of the invention are realized by a hand stamp construction comprising a housing and a closure member for said housing. On one side of said closure member is mounted a printing member or other marking device. The closure member is pivotably mounted on the housing such that, in one position, it may be locked in that position with the printing mem* her on the outside and its type face exposed, whereupon the housing may serve as a handle for manipulating the stamp to make desired ink impressions; and, in a second position, the closure member may be locked in pos tion with the printing member completely enclosed within the housing, and thus access to the inked type face is impossible, which prevents undue soiling of ones hands or clothing or other articles while the stamp is not in use.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of marking device according to the invention with the closure in an intermediate position;

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views through the center of the device of Fig. 1 showing the closure in three different positions to illustrate its motion;

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are cross-sectional views through the center of a modification of the device illustrated in Fig. 1 to illustrate a modified form of closure and locking means;

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are cross-sectional views through the center of still another modification of the device accord- 2,919,645 Patented Jan. 5, 1960 ing to the invention to illustrate another form of closure and locking means;

Fig. 11 is a partly cross-sectional and partly plan view of the device illustrated in Fig. 9 along the line 1111;

Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment.

Referring now to the drawing, Fig. 1 illustrates a preferred form of the marking device of the invention. It comprises a box-like casing or housing, indicated generally as 10, comprising a closed bottom wall portion 11, and two pairs of opposed side wall portions 12, 13, 14 and 15. The bottom part of the housing serves as a handle portion for manipulating the marking device, and to this end is furnished with opposed recessed portions 16 to enable ready grasping thereof. The housing It) is preferably constituted of a synthetic resin, such as a polystyrene plastic, and, in the form shown, may be molded as a single entity. The rectangular top of the box-like casing is open, but may be closed-01f by a rotatable closure member 21) pivotably mounted at the top of the opposed side walls 14 and 15. The closure 2! comprises a planar member, also preferably of synthetic resin, having projections 21 at opposite ends seated or journaled in apertures 22 in the side walls 14 and 15. The center of the closure contains a slot 23, and a center pin 24 in the slot. This may be made in a simple manner by cementing together two synthetic resin members to form the planar closure 20, with the cemented members having shapes providing the slot 23 and pin 24-. In the slot 23 is mounted a planar latch member 25 containing a center opening or slot 26 surrounding .the pin 24 and thus enabling the latch 25 to slide back and forth over a restricted path determined by the length of the slot 26 and in the plane of the closure 20 but at right angles to a line connecting its pivot or bearing points 21. With the closure member 20 in a closed position, the latch ends are receivable or seat in opposed aligned recessed portions 27 and 28 in the side walls 12 and 13, respectively, the latch 25 having a length exceeding the spacing between the said side walls 12 and 13. On one surface of the closure 20 is mounted, such as by cementing, a printing member 30. The printing member 30, which may be of rubber or synthetic resin, has a type face 31 exposed for making ink impressions. The print ng member 30 is preferably constituted of a resilient, microporous plastic resin with its own built-in ink supply in the pores, as described in United States Patent No. 2,777,824, thereby alleviating the need for a separate inking pad.

The operation of the hand stamp of the invention will be best understood from reference to the motion views in Figs. 2 to 4, which are cross-sectional views through the center of Fig. 1. Fig. 2 shows the closure 20 in a closure position in which the printing member 30 lies entirely within the housing 10 and is inaccessible from the outside. By sliding the latch 25 to the right until its right end engages the edges of the slot 27, with of course the left end also engaging the edges of its adjacent slot 28, the closure 20 may be locked in this closure position.

T 0 convert the stamp to an operative or printing condition, as shown in Fig. 2, the latch 25 is slid to the left until the right end is clear of the right slot 27, the length of its slot 26 permitting this result, and then the closure 20 rotated clockwise as shown in Fig. 3, a full until the left end of the latch 25 (Fig. 2) seats in the right slot 27. Then, the latch 25 is slid to the left until its opposite end seats in the left slot 28 as shown in Fig. 4, thereby locking the closure 20 in another closure position in which the printing member is exposed for performing a printing function. The apertures 22 in the side walls 14 and 15,

which apertures act as pivot points, are preferably positioned relative to the slots 27 and 28 so that the latch 25 enters into frictional engagement with the edges of the slots 27 and 23 to prevent an inadvertent exposure of the printing member 36 when the device is carried in a pocket or the like. In the position shown in 4, the latch 25' is centered over the housing top, in which position the pin 24 engages an end wall of the slot 26. Hence it will be evident that the slot 26 cannot be centered along the longitudinal axis of the latch 25, but must extend more on one side of the center than the other side.

The advantages of the construction of the invention are the simple, inexpensive, easily operated, and foolproof structure resulting. Further, the hous ng it} enables the printing member to be readily manipulated by hand to form the ink impression desired. Still further, the printing member is completely enclosed in its inoperative condition preventing accidental soiling of ones fingers or clothing. In addition, in the printing position, the closure 2! with its printing member 3%) is rigidly locked to the housing ill enabling the printing operation to be performed most easily.

Figures to 7 illustrate a modification employing a form of locking means diffefrent from the sliding latch described above. Like the above-described device, this modification also comprises a box-like casing or housing 40 with closed bottom ll, opposed side walls 47. and 43, and an open top. Also, closing-oii the open top is a rotatable closure 45 pivoted in the center of the remaining opposed side walls 4 5. On one side only of the closure 35 is mounted a printing member 47. The side walls 42 and 43 each contain a center recess or slot 23 and 49 similar to the recesses 27 and 28 of the device of Fig. l, with the difference however that the bottom slot edges are broken or slightly tapered 5 as shown. The closure 45, which may be molded from a plastic resin as a single piece, has opposed, ali ned, projecting portions or cars of different length, the right one 51 being shorter than the left one 52 and the right one 51 not extending beyond the single wall 42. As shown in Fig. 5, both ears are receivable in the adjacent slots 47 and 48, and the closure 45 is locked in position with the printing member 47 entirely enclosed within the housing ll To operate, the right car 51 is pressed in and down until it slips past the tapered edge 59 and free of the slot 47 and begins to rotate clockwise (see phantom view in Fig. 5). Fig. 6 shows the arrangement when the closure 45 has almost completed its 180 rotation, and the ear 51 has engaged the edge of the slot 43 and slightly pushed back the slightly resilient side wall 43. At a .ertain point, the car 51 snaps into position (Fig. 7) into the slot 452 and the side wall 33 springs back into its normal position, locking the closure d5 into its other closure position with the printing member 47 exposed and ready to perform a printing function, the housing til again serving as a handle. The same manipulation of the edge 51 will cause the closure 35 to rotate back to its former closure position illustrated in Fig. 5. it will be obvious from tne foregoing that the length of the car 51 and the depth of the slots 47 and have to be carefully chosen to ensure easy engagement and release of the ear 51 in the two slots. The other ear 52, which extends beyond the side wall, functions as a stop and as a means for guiding the closure 45 during its rotation.

In the two previous embodiments described, the closure rotates about centered, fixed, pivot points in the side walls. in the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 8 to ll, sliding pivot points are present. As shown, the device comprises a housing 6% comprisl a bottom 61, a first pair of opposed side walls 62 63, and a second pair of opposed side walls 64 and 65. A planar closure on which is mounted a printing member 67 closes off the opening top of the housing. The closure 66 has at one side a tab 7 for manipulating the closure, and at the opposite side a pair of balled bearing or pivot points 71 journaled in elongated channel portions '72 provided along side walls 64 and 65. In each of the side walls 452 and 63, at the top, is located a center recess 74 and 75, respectively, for receiving the tab of the closure as in its two closure positions. On opposite sides of the recesses in the side walls 62 and 63 are small protuberances 76 and 77 which extend into the housing.

Fig. 8 illustrates one closure position in which the closure 66 is locked in position with the printing member 67 facing inward. The locking action occurs because the closure 66 is wedged between the end wall of the channel 72 engaged by the ball ends 71 and the protuberances 77 engaged by the front surface 79 of the closure 66. On pushing upward on the tab 74), the closure 6% is released and may be rotated in a clockwise position as shown in Fig. 9 while its bailed pivots are slid along the channels 72 from one end to the opposite end. Fig. 10 shows the closure locked in a printing position with the printing member 67 exposed. Here, also, the closure 66 is wedged between the opposite end of the channels 72 and the protuberances 7'6.

While the invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments, it will be understood that variations may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A marking device comprising a casing having side wall portions and an open top, a substantially planar closure member journaled in fixed bearing points in opposed side wall portions and adapted to close-off the open top in two closure positions and adapted to rotate between said two closure positions, a latch member slidingly mounted on said closure for sliding movement in the plane of said closure but substantially at right angles to a line connecting the bearing points, said latch member having a length exceeding the spacing between opposed side wall portions of the casing and adapted to engage both of sad opposed side wall portions in the two closure positions thereby to lock the closure in said positions, and a printing member mounted on one side of said closure.

2. A marking device as set forth in claim 1 wherein opposed side wall portions of said casing have aligned recessed portions, said latch member being receivable in said recessed portions when locking the closure in position.

3. A marking device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the latch member comprises a planar member having an oil-center slot, the axis of which is substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the closure, and said closure includes a pin member passing through the ofi-center slot of the latch member and confining its motion.

4. A marking device comprising a casing having side wall portions and a bottom wall and an open top, a substantially planar closure member journaled in fixed bearing points in opposed side wall portions and adapted to close-off the open top in two closure positions and to rotate therebetween said closure having aligned projecting portions whose spacing exceeds that of other opposed side wall portions of the casing whereby the said projecting portions overlie and engage said opposed side wall portions in both closure positions and thus lock the closure in that position, one of said projecting portions having a length at which it engages a side wall portion just before assuming a locking position, said side wall portion being slightly resilient, and a printing member on one side of said closure member.

5. A marking device as set forth in claim 4 wherein said two projecting portions are of unequal length, and said other opposed side wall portions have aligned recesses for receiving said projecting portions.

6. A marking device comprising a casing having side wall portions and a bottom wall and an open top, a substantially planar closure member having opposed bearing points and adapted to close-off the open topin'two closure positions and to rotate therebetween, opposed side wall portions of said casing having elongated channels, said closure member being mounted in said open top with its bearing points slidably mounted in the channels in the side wall portions, projecting means associated with other opposed side wall portions of the casing for locking the closure in its two closure positions, and a printing member mounted on one side of said closure, said locking means operating by frictional forces.

7. A marking device as set forth in claim 6 wherein said other opposed side Wall portions have recesses for receiving a closure portion for manipulating the closure, said projecting portions lying alongside the recesses, said closure fitting within the open top of the casing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Chamberlain June 4, Gumbs Dec. 3, Leighton May 25, Strayer June 30, McGinness Aug. 30, Leeds Jan. 15,

FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Aug. 6, Great Britain Apr. 5, Great Britain Nov. 28, 

